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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

First of all let me start by saying. No I am not pregnant, and no I am not Posh Becks and do not intend to keep going back for a girl. 2 boys, outnumbered in the house, that's fine with me. I have said this many times and I will say it again. If I had a girl I will be bankrupt. There is always too many cute things for girls out there. So my money is safe where it is now - in a Chanel bag slush fund for Mama Ling.

I was lucky enough to be invited to Target's Baby's First event. It was fun central being surrounded by onesies (I call them onesies you call them rompers.. sames sames), little blankets that Target has managed to make look handmade yet at the same time consistent in quality.

Grey is the new Green

The above picture was the display that I really liked. Grey is like SO HAWT right now. It is the new yellow and green that we used to buy when you did not know the gender of what you are expecting. I of course had to find out the gender. I would have died if I didn't. So I knew I was having boys both times. Of course I believed deep down that they were wrong and Pickles would be a girl.... no luck there.

Girls bedroom anyone?

Check out the blanket on the left. This is the blanket that I was talking about prior. It was made to look hand quilted like a heirloom piece. Which is difficult because Target requires consistency in each and every piece sold across the nation. When this blanket is unfolded, the other side had a cute pattern as a floor rug for baby to play on ... I used to lie D on the floor a lot while I did my household chores. That little boy was always content to be by himself. Pickles my little demanding one not so much. LOL! See those little wraps on the right under the squishy square toy? Yeah here is a closeup.

Paris anyone?

How cute is the Paris theme on that top one? No, not Paris Hilton! Paris France. As I said, I am lucky that I do not have a little girl .... $$$$$$$$ And trust me when I say that the cottony stretch ones are easier to bundle up and wrap tightly. Wrap the little sausages rolls up expecting mothers. Listen to Mama Ling.

Boys Room theme Mobile

Hungry Caterpillar theme!

I tweeted that above picture and the response was great. I think this is another great range in the Target collection for gender neutral items. We need MORE of these please. They were people replying on my Instagram photo that they were running out to get them. I have seen them in real life instore as well and they look mighty fine. Run don't wok.

I will take one in Adult Size 8 kthxbai

Girls fashion is very much Mini-Me. The more successful stores that stock childrens and baby outfits are doing this and doing it very well. Check out that jacket. Can I please have that in size 8? It's not asking that much! It is just a little bit bigger.

Leopard tights people!!

Those above 2 pictures are a set. Yeap you can have leopard prints and a tutu skirt too. You see what I mean by I would be bankrupt? I don't normally 'dig' leopard prints. But HOW CUTE THIS THAT! The event only exhibited clothes up to 24months. Get into Target and get the basic range. Cute tshirts and leggings for daycare is exactly what you need!

The things you do to your youngest Child

Target kindly gave me a goodie bag when I left. As you can tell, we put it to good use by dressing up Pickles with it. How cute is that bib? Pickles is wearing a size 000 singlet as headgear. It is totally the done thing these days people. Get that fashion going.

Target has also provided me with a $40 giftcard to give away to one of you lucky readers. YAYYYY $40 goes a long way in Target people. Listen to me you want this!

To WIN: Email me at porkchopsnest@gmail.com and tell me what you would purchase for a gift to a friend or family who is expecting a new baby but you do not know what gender the baby is. Competition closes on the 8th of March midnight Melbourne time.

Conditions: Open to Australian residents only, decisions are final and judged by myself. The winner has a week to respond to my email for their mailing address for the prize.

Monday, February 25, 2013

I just realised that I have not done a Stalk my Weekend in a while. So I am back with a vengence.

I had Vita and another lady that I met from the boys' shortlived swimming lessons in Eltham come over on Saturday morning. I think Vita was really disciplined and only had a sliver of lemon cheesecake. It was my no bake Lemon Cheesecake that I keep making. You can prepare it in advance overnight and there is no baking and no gelatine involved. Have you had a whiff of gelatine powder after you add it to water. You don't want to if you have no idea what it smells like. Vita is doing 12WBT and I think she really wanted to chow down on that cheesecake. Props to you Vita! They left at 12 noon which is great timing.. This leaves me time to get to Laksa King. I just want to say that I discovered Laksa King years and years ago. Like in 2001 when it was a hole in the wall, anyone else remember what a dive it was?

D getting a little impatient

Chow down

So I decided that I would try to make Mick's lunches from now on instead of just yelling at him that he doesn't eat. The man is wasting away. So what do you make for someone that has to eat their lunch cold and not to knock sammiches but sammiches are kinda boring. I made a frittata. That's a first for me. I have eaten heaps of it but not made one. So this is what I made.

I should have added onion or garlic but honestly it was too hot and who can think in this weather? I fried the ingredients (not the egg and cream of course) in a pan to cook the capsicum and bacon. I added pine nuts in at this point. But as the potato was not in the pan yet. I did not add enough. Mick said the piece he had for dinner didn't have any pinenuts. Oopsss...I seasoned in the frying pan and added some salt to the spuds as well when it was waiting to go in. Pour this cooked mixture into oven proof pan.

Ready to bake

Beat the 5 eggs with cream, again season. Grated the parmesan in after cream was mixed in. Pour on top of the cooked ingredients and bake at 180 degrees C.

DONE and PS I need Food Styling Training

Ta Da.. done after the top was browned. I think it took about 25minutes? But check it if you are cooking this. What I would change is add more pine nuts and more cheese. Plus the potatos had to be smaller in bite sized cubes.

Ok to Wake!

I did an Aldi run for some of the ingredients on Sunday. And I saw this. It's an Ok to Wake clock. You set the time that you want the kids to wake up and it turns bright green when it hits that time. I had promised D one earlier but hello you cannot beat $25! I have seen them for $40 plus on eBay. I hope it lasts longer than my rice cooker from Aldi. URGH... It died and I cannot find the receipt!

I also need suggestions on what lunch items you can prepare in advance and eat cold.
HALPPP!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I was kindly sent these 2 Sukin items for review on the blog. As you would know, I have been interested in organic skincare for awhile. I had also looked at ingredients in my old face washes and thrown out the ones with parabens. The reason for my sudden if you would call it paranoia was my cheek developed a weird red and itchy patch. It was so bad that I was pretty sure I needed a paperbag to go into work.

Sukin's philosophy is "Skincare that doesn't cost the earth". They believe in being

Vegan and cruelty free

Grey water safe & biodegradable

Use only recyclable packaging and

Are certified neutral carbon

I told Nat from That Blonde Moment that I am reviewing Sukin. She said how much she loved their products, that they smell amazing and she was really excited. Which got me kind excited to open the box when it arrived. I opened the bottles immediately as I had finished the body wash that I was pitching from the boys and had no other organic alternative yet.

I know smells and fragrances is a personal preference. But I like citrus smells and this one delivers a light citrusy scent in the body wash and lotion. The body wash is clear transparent and it is low suds which suits me perfectly. Honestly citrus smells are my favourite in body wash and lotions. So this one is a big winner for me. Ingredients listed just to name a few include Aloe Vera, Tangerine oil, Mandarin Oil, Vanilla, Lavendar oil and extract. That explains the yummy citrus smell that I love.

Body lotion "swatch" lol

The body lotion is a light formula which is what I prefer. I do not like lotions that leave a streak. You know those ones where there is a white patch? And you have to keep rubbing it in continuously or the streak still remains? The smell is the same as the body wash. Again a light citrus lime fragrance. It doesn't overwhelm you and it will not leave you smell like a lime the entire day. It did not interfere with my perfume either. I also wore it on hot days and did not feel sticky. It might need another application again later in the day as it was one of those hot and dry days in Melbourne as I felt a little dry in the afternoons from spending all day in an airconditioned room.

My thoughts on the Sukin body range:

Price: I think it is cheap for an organic and "earthly choice" product. Priceline Online has priced $11.99 for a 500ml of Body wash and $19.95 for the 500ml of Body Lotion. Correct me if I am wrong but My Chemist/Chemist Warehouse usually have promotions and discounts on this. It is not as cheap as other supermarket brands like Nivea but I believe it is good value in terms of organic skincare. Care to debate this with me?

Purpose: I think it does deliver to my preferences. Low suds, easy to apply body lotion, light fragrance which I love (personal choice) and feels like a special and luxurious product.Buy again factor: These were sent to me by review from Sukin (thanks!!) but after these are finished, I will buy it again. Once I cleared out all that lotions I have!

Watch out for these if I do another empties post. They have been used daily!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

I saw this onesie, well playsuit when I went to visit Nat at Flinders Shed. At that time I bought the coral girls top. But she also recommended this playsuit to me. It is also by Kalokeri which is the same brand as the coral top. I said I would think about this playsuit. And when I saw Flinders Shed's facebook update that all Kalokeri items were discounted to make room for winter stock, I rang Nat to purchase this. It was shipped express and I received it on Monday. Woohoo!

But remember my onesie outfit hall of shame post? So now I am paranoid. LOL I think this is safe to wear right? At least the shorts cover my bum and are not knicker shorts.

Beaded detail

I can now report back that if you wear a playsuit, you got to take everything off to go to the toilet. So to counter this first world problem. I suggest you cut back on your fluids. But face dehydration as it would be a really hot day to be able to wear something like this in Melbourne. You will need to weight up the pros and cons of this. LOL

So now I am a convert with playsuits. It was really comfy in a one piece with shorts that are not sold separately variety.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

I had an oar-some week. Insert sarcasm here. Actually no it wasn't so bad.
There was no stalk my weekend last weekend as it was a little sad. I took the boys to not one but TWO libraries by myself. Yeah that's effort people. By the time I unstrapped them the second time. I was ready to let them just sit in their chairs on the way home. But of course I didn't - just kidding ok! I received an SMS saying you're going to kill me. Me: I'm so going to kill Mick right now. He's gone cycling in a bid to meet some BFFs. I tell him about the wonderful world of the interwebs but he doesn't geddit. So #foreveralone in the BFFs stakes, he will remain. What happens? He fell off his mountain bike and had to detour to the hospital on the way back. He is however fine and has already recovered!

Then on Valentines' Day, I was getting ready for the onslaught of love, pink and reds on Facebook. I was not however prepared to read a status update from a friend made on her behalf by her husband that she had passed away from brain cancer. Wait what? What? No.. that is not true. We were not close, we were internet friends from many many years ago. But still, that stuff had me crying slightly throughout the day. Later that evening, we found Snowy my cat of 10 years had passed away. At least we found her. I had planned a blog post about this. But then, I don't think Emily and Snowy would want me to be wallowing like a deranged woman.

Therefore I present to you my first world problems. Pull up a chair... and prepare to relate.

You know how much I love Costco right? We went against our better judgement and bought a pizza to cook at home. Knowing that everything is on steroids from Costco we brought this home. Well it didn't fit in my fridge. It took some restacking to actually close the door. Then.. it didn't fit in the oven. I cut them into quarters and shoved them in 1 part at a time. Mind you it was massive so, a quarter basically fed the 2 boys.

Costco Pizza on steroids

Two Fridays ago, I was getting ready to paint my toenails while watching an episode of trashy TV.. the nail polish that I selected went flying off as I was digging and messing around for something else. I have hard tiles in the bathroom. Stuff painting it on, most of it splashed onto my toes! This is after I had mopped up the glass and most of it with paper towel. Then I had to scrub like a crazy woman with nail polish remover. My bathroom tiles are still a slight glittering metallic purple colour.

Smashed nail polish bottle

It was Thursday, I just had news about my friend. It was hot and kind of yucky.. my cleaner asked if she could come at 1pm instead of 11am. Fine.. whatever, I run out and get something to eat. I sit.. i wait.. i eat.. nobody came. I SMSed her if she was alright. By this time I'm thinking.. great back to the drawing board at finding another cleaner. This cleaner issue is a separate post in itself trust me! But then I get a big SMS and suddenly I had to be Dr Phil for my cleaner. Then I kinda read between the lines and I think she pushed my appointment out for someone new - I think.

This was not half of the entire message ..

Ya also know how I am a bargain hunter? Yeah well I bought Bodum double wall glasses for about $20+ for 2. Guess what I see in a Kmart catalogue. $9 for 4 of them! WHAT WHAT! Not 2 but 4!! A set of 4 for $9!

I had a hair appointment on Saturday to finally fix my regrowth. I had to leave it for ages as both him and I had issues getting a suitable time. It was a 2/3 week wait. And he is never late, usually I am late. Well this time, he was half an hour late. First of all there is a 2hr free parking limit on Gertrude street. So I was going to end up overstaying my park. Also who else hates sitting while the colour does its thing at the hair dressers? I do! I am also blind when I have no glasses on so I have to stick the magazines 5cm from my face. LOL it is not a glam look. Then because I was late coming home, the poor boys were starving by the time I went home with bagels. Although J bought me a latte and served it with the cutest sugar pot and spoon ever. :)

What is up with sandpits?! Why do they love it so much? I am pretty much over having sand all over the floors, in their shoes that needs to have their soles removed and tipped out.

Boys and their sand pit "fun" at QV

I am sure that I have much more first world problems. But I shall leave you with that. I could carry on about my overspilling makeup case but that would involve shaming myself by posting a picture of how it is dusty and a complete mess. Hey beauty organisation companies.. contact me ok! I have a great before pitch for you. Anyway I shall leave you with the yummy Cupcake Central cupcakes that I bought on Wednesday evening. We scoffed them all that night. Lord the lychee white chocolate is amazeballs.

Red velvet, Chocolate, Raspberry, Lychee White Choc

RIP Emily who left the world way too early. Leaving behind her husband Anthony and her sons 3 year old Jesse and 4month old Archer. And Snowy who is now under the tree next to our fence. The one she used to sit on before she was sick and used to get pats from people walking past.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

I am not sure if you guys know, but my weekday makeup routine used to be - NIL.
Yeap that's right, bare face. Insert look of horror here. Some positive influenced by the lovely beauty bloggers and my skincare/makeup BFF at work. I am now putting in some effort. Some.. not a lot. But hey, when compared to bareface. Anything is improvement right? Although I have to say that it never bothered me to be makeup free in public. If you are a beauty blogger - insert horrified look emoticon here.

I caved and bought the Shu Uemura Glow Fit compact powder... did I tell you that it is SPF26 as well? Perfect as I am lazy and I sometimes skip sunscreen for my face. Queue the horrifying look of my Mum here. Mum is the ultimate in sun-fearing Chinese lady. She will stick an umbrella in your face and will change seats on a bus in Singapore 200 times on a trip if required to avoid the sun.

I have to admit that I caved before finishing the little sample pack because Strawberrynet gave me an additional 5% off "welcome back" discount. I later found out that I wasn't special, as most people also had that offer and a higher discount. Insert sigh here. Honestly I felt bad for buying online as the ladies there have always been nice to me. But it was half the price from Strawberrynet! The compact box is included with the powder whereas it is sold separately here.

I have to say that I had not bought a MAC lipstick ever in my life. I am not sure why or what happened. But I seemed to have the wrong memory or something stuck in my head. I have always associated MAC with being dry and matte. This is another throwback to the late 1990s back when MAC only just landed in Singapore. Yes I was the hip teenager with money alright - don't judge. It was the original Viva Glam that I had in mind, that red one! I think my friend had this as I do not remember ever buying it. This is where the story blurs.. as to why I had a misconception of MAC lipsticks. Anyway, fast forward to seeing Girl About Town in real life. I was like yeah yeah yeah buy buy buy. I bought it from eBay and gosh was it glam or was it glam. Creamy in texture, long lasting and beautiful vanilla scent. Hooked at first swipe.

My skincare BFF then bought something from the Sheen Sumpreme range, I believe it was New Temptation.. followed by someone else in the office who bought Insanely It. I had a package in the US waiting to be shipped and I jumped on MAC US site to have a look. Yeah Full Speed looks ok from swatches online. Oh did I mention it was $16 on the US site and includes free shipping within the US? There was no additional costs either to consolidate and ship my two packages to Australia. There you go.. parcel forwarding 101 - don't spend often but spend big when you do and consolidate. Most companies offer free shipping within the US so make use of those! :)

Monday, February 11, 2013

I was kindly sent these two colours to swatch by OPI from their new Oz The Great and the Powerful collection. The two colours featured on the Claw are "I Theodora You" and "Which is Witch". The Oz collection appears to be nudes and glitters with one colour called "What Wizardry is This" as a liquid sands polish. Nudes never go out of fashion as you would know and for upcoming Bridezillas, seriously look into considering this colour. It is a nude with pink undertones. I think Bubble Bath, an OPI best seller, does not have this pink undertone. But feel free to correct me as I do not have Bubble Bath. I have only seen it on someone else.

In artificial lighting

Once again, OPI's formula is really easy to paint on. In fact, I managed to do this while on the phone on Friday evening. As it was a nude colour, it was really forgiving.. woohoo! I realise that I have not had a Claw post in ages. Well, I had issues with weak and chipping nails and had to lay off the pretty colours! Sad face here...

So I am compensating with lots of pictures of these two shades in various lighting. Bear with me! Once again there is also a funny story to all this! Stick with me and I will tell all at the end.

Closeup on Which is Witch in the sun

As you can see the pink is a pretty shade of pale milky pink. This colour reminds me of one of my first nail polishes. It was a milky pink like this one. I bought it from this lady who used to wear dark lined lips and nude matte dry as brown lipstick. It was the 1990s.. I think I am still mentally scarred from those days. Let's stick to the nail polish discussion as I am shaking in the corner right now rocking back and forth. Back to the glitter, it is a pretty silver based holographic glitter with different shapes of glitter specks. It does not feel rough to touch and actually I think it is up there with Hello Darling 24K as a fav.

Action shot in the car

Oh look pretty pink nude and GLITTER in the shade

Ok and onto everyone's favourite the garden CLAW pictures. I am suppose to know the name of some of these plants. Insert Mick rolling his eyes here. He tells me blah blah blah I pulled out the blah blah name of plant. I go huh? Which one? He starts describing it and I'm like oh those broccoli looking ones. Then he gets all upset like I put all these plants in so you have a nice garden and you never notice them. With that in mind, can someone also remind me what is the name of that first tree below? He has only told me a million times. I can't help it, I grew up in an apartment. We only had pots of chillis!

I erm forgot the name of this plant but look at my nails!

This is the Broccoli looking thing

This one is thankfully easy - ROSE!

This was 3 coats of the I Theodora You. I did very light coats as I knew that I was going to do 3 coats. Also if you notice there is only one coat of the glitter Which is Witch that I used like a top coat. Well ... the story is this. I was painting my nails while on the phone and I did this one nail with one coat. I was going to go back and put on another thicker layer so you can see the glitter better. Well .. this is the equivalent excuse of my Dog ate my Homework. Because I left the two bottles on the table next to the couch. Guess who got to my "paints"? Pickles must have stolen them and I can only find I Theodora You. He took that one bottle outside to the front deck to sit with it. I do not know where the other one is!!! And I cannot find my base coat either. I asked him, see this one? Holds the pink bottle up. Where is the other one like this glitter? He says Paint! Paint! Me: URGH...bends down and starts looking under the couch. So incredibly sorry guys and I have to apologise to OPI's PR as well. MY KID STOLE MY NAIL POLISH! I will find this and come back with a glitter vengence!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

I am typing this still tired and half asleep... this week has flown by... and I cannot believe it.

The story behind my horrid Stalk my Monday morning goes like this. It started innocently enough.. I was dreading leaving on Monday morning for a work trip to Sydney. I normally do not get to travel at all for work and honestly I really did not want to go. The agenda was so long and I did not want to fly up for the weekend even though I wanted to see my friends. It would mean that I would be away for longer from the boys. And they have swimming classes!!! Anyway, I was a sad sack. My irrational fear of not being able to wake up in time resulted in the worst sleep that night. Pickles also cried and had gone back to sleep on the couch. I woke up.. and I heard a train in the distance. How can there be a train if it's only 4-something in the morning? I had set my alarm for 5am. Rolls over.. oh what 5.40!! I'm suppose to have been in a cab 15minutes ago for the 6.30am flight.

Seriously .. let me tell you, I have never run in and out of a shower so fast and threw bits and pieces together at the same time. The poor cab driver must have had a heart attack from me yelling at him! I ran .. ok I ran in LV flats. Those shoes were not made for running!! The reason for running like a mad woman was I had changed my flight as I was suppose to be in the same car as some executives on the 6.30am. Which also meant that EVERYONE heard my name being paged for not being on the flight. I saw the plane from the window at 6.25am. Flight closed. 2 words you never want to see. The Qantas lady was trying not to laugh at me panting and waving my phone QR Code for check-in at her. I got on the 7am ....

A bed never looked so good

Wood Paneling never looked so GOOD

I was in an all day meeting.. Did I say all day? Yes it was all day in a room with the same people that were speaking a different language. I checked into the luxurious The Darling Hotel at 7pm. I was tempted to just pretend that I was stuck in the hotel bed. It sucked me in. But i embarked on a 4km walk to The Rocks. We went the long way. We shall never discuss this again. It was truly the scenic route. But seriously. LV flats not made for walking either. Mental note to pack sneakers for any other trip that I might have again. At this stage, I am dreaming of that bed. But I get back nearly at 11pm. This is not fun.

Oh hello Rain showerhead

BEST THING EVER

I needed instructions to use the shower. What is this knob? Turns it and get drenched from the rain shower head above. Next time, I need to check out the actual hotel website for these features -> I booked through our corporate site. Imagine my excitement at Molton Brown toiletries and on top of that finding a Nespresso machine in the drawer. Hello! I needed pods anyway. I plonked a silk tea bag in my cup of hot water. Bliss.. meanwhile due to failure in reading the website, I did not know that the blinds were electronically controlled. Actually everything is controlled electronically! Through your trusty remote control for the TV including the wakeup alarm function. I shall stop here as I am starting to sound like a total country bumpkin that never saw the inside of a hotel room.

Checking out with tears in my eyes as I roll down to the office

My big A.Wang did not fit under the seat

Left the office at 3.40pm to catch the flight back - without running this time. It was ... boring.. LOL Where's the adrenaline rush? I can tell you that I was really missing home. I never felt so happy to see the inside of a smelly Melbourne cab. I gave him greasies in case he thought I was a stupid tourist who had no idea where I was going to. Nevermind that I was going to home to the sticks!

The most fun part is..

When I left home, the house looked like this...

Nothing says suburbia like a beige house

And I came home to this

D was running out to see me

Holler - no DIY, no yelling at Mick and the boys, no screaming why is there half a forest on my front lawn? When the heck will you finish this. Outsourcing is the new black. Best.ever.

Mick will grow a grapevine upwards to create some shade against the afternoon sun. I am not even sure when I came up with this idea as the original thing was to pave the entrance. I got sick of the stupid gravel and I am not sure why Mick dumped some big ones out the front which makes me feel like I am tripping over in my heels everytime I walk out the house.

Bet you now cannot wait till the next time I travel interstate again and see what I come home too right?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Phew.. what a jam packed weekend. I'm sorry that Stalk my Weekend is so late in the week. Wait till you hear what happened in Stalk my lousy Monday morning and you will forgive me. I had yum cha with the ladies on Saturday and honestly I didn't take pics. ROFL I had a FOTD picture but it was plastered on my Facebook wall. In the interest of not repeating things and boring you. I have left the picture out. You can stalk my Facebook page instead. Don't forget to likey as I'm feeling unloved. Y'all still love me right?

After yum cha, I ran to meet Mick and the boys in Fitzroy as Mick was having his haircut. The girls proceeded to spend heaps of money at Daiso. Thankfully I already did my Daiso raid of random things on Wednesday. Yay to that! Boys playing with random animals that Jamie somehow has at his studio. After Mick was finished, D said he likes his hair. Nawwww sweet boy.

Bolton Street Chicken

Sunday was jam packed for us as the boys started swimming. WOOHOO!! Thank goodness! We has swimming again! Bought D and Pickles their swimming caps. Gosh, why didn't anyone tell my Mum that fabric swimming caps existed? As a treat, I went to get chicken, chips and salad for lunch at my favourite chicken place. Bolton Street Chicken! It's not exactly close to me, there's probably 15 chicken shops that are closer but gosh.. this is the best! I cannot stand looking at the sad, creamy weird salads sitting in the fridges of other chicken shops.

Fairy Hills Ice Cream

I have been driving past this pretty ice cream shop for months since I started going a roundabout way with the boys after their daycare pickup. D calls this roundabout way the "lost way" because I kept getting lost at the start. LOL.. it is now called sneaky way. So after their rest from swimming, I packed them in the car by myself - I hardly ever do this - as Mick was going to the tip. Such a cute shop! Prices are $4 for one scoop, $5 for two scoops and $6 for three scoops. I bought strawberry and chocolate for the boys.

Baby Chairs or Mummy Chairs?

They also serve coffees, soft serve frozen yoghurt, milkshakes and juices as well. If anyone is interested, they also have baby chairs. D asked if the baby chairs were for Pickles. I said no as Pickles can sit on the chair by himself. He then asked the lady behind the counter if the chair was for Mummy. Erm.. no, Mummy cannot fit in them.

D helping with scones

Oh hurro yummies

Action packed Sunday continues! D and Pickles helped Mick make lemonade scones. If anyone is interested in the recipe. We usually use Taste's recipe for lemonade scones. They are the easiest thing. Just ignore the sugar and cream/fat content. Just eat them ok!

McCormick Recipe Creations

Hurro Meat

If you are still awake... Hurro meat to you as well. I received this recipe creations pack from McCormick at a recent event. I thought this was a fantastic idea as I am sick of bottles of dried herbs and spices that are opened and used once for a one off recipe and never used again. I think I have cinnamon dated 2007 when we first moved into the house. Like s'rsly... Mick keeps telling me, it's fine, just use it.. But like eewwww, the cinnamon is older than D! The pack for Beef Brew and Herb Dumplings comes with the recipe at the back of the card. Each spice/herb that you require is already measured out in the pack. So we had this for dinner on Sunday night.. in between all that baking and ice cream. Mick managed to cook dinner as well. It was a brown and stir, then leave in the oven affair. How good is that?

If you haven't fallen asleep yet. I leave you with two roses from my garden. D and Pickles gave me those from our garden. The one at the bottom is the Jane McGrath rose and the beautifully fragrant one at the top is either The Mother's Love or The Children's Rose. I cannot remember!! I need to look at the label again!